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A review by al_exposition
Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield
1.0
I HATE LEAVING ONE STAR
am i dumb? maybe i am stupid. maybe i don't have a brain that's capable of understanding the symbolism and depth that this book requires a reader to have. upon reading and watching other reviews, i was so excited to read this book.
themes of loneliness when you're not alone? lgbt+? yearning and a reunion after time apart? a person not being the same after a trauma? sign me uppppppppp... but that was not what i got.
and maybe that's my fault. i should have entered the book with the idea that it's moreso afantasy book where i had to suspend my disbelief. but if you're just a girl and find yourself resonating with other books ive logged here, then here's my thoughts! everything will be marked as a spoiler because im lazy xoxo
the ending. i'll admit that i do not understand it. leah loses her eye and becomes one with the ocean. her body gradually becomes pearlescent then transparent and then she literally becomes water. i thought that the later 1/4 of the book would lead to more answers regarding why she came back "different." but it just left me even more confused.
i thought that the mysterious creature down in the ocean did something to leah and matteo. but it just looked at them? what are the voices that they heard? it's probably a metaphor for something. who was the centre? what was that eye symbol on the center console? again, probably a metaphor for... looking inwards? tbh i don't really know and maybe if i was in the headspace to want to be artsy and introspective i would've gotten it, but i don't get it.
the end of the book also introduces a journal that leah wrote in a lot. i thought we were gonna get to see what was in there. im assuming it's the book where she wrote her name for the sea creature, but what else was in the book?
i can see the themes of like - staying where you shouldn't even when you know it's not good for you. we see that with matteo's fingers and leah staying when the power comes back on. but what does it all meannnnnn. i feel like i'm going crazy.
it just feels like there were so many threads that just get cut off with no satisfying ending. maybe this was a stylistic choice, but it's not my style.
am i dumb? maybe i am stupid. maybe i don't have a brain that's capable of understanding the symbolism and depth that this book requires a reader to have. upon reading and watching other reviews, i was so excited to read this book.
themes of loneliness when you're not alone? lgbt+? yearning and a reunion after time apart? a person not being the same after a trauma? sign me uppppppppp... but that was not what i got.
and maybe that's my fault. i should have entered the book with the idea that it's moreso a
Spoiler
the ending. i'll admit that i do not understand it. leah loses her eye and becomes one with the ocean. her body gradually becomes pearlescent then transparent and then she literally becomes water. i thought that the later 1/4 of the book would lead to more answers regarding why she came back "different." but it just left me even more confused.
i thought that the mysterious creature down in the ocean did something to leah and matteo. but it just looked at them? what are the voices that they heard? it's probably a metaphor for something. who was the centre? what was that eye symbol on the center console? again, probably a metaphor for... looking inwards? tbh i don't really know and maybe if i was in the headspace to want to be artsy and introspective i would've gotten it, but i don't get it.
the end of the book also introduces a journal that leah wrote in a lot. i thought we were gonna get to see what was in there. im assuming it's the book where she wrote her name for the sea creature, but what else was in the book?
i can see the themes of like - staying where you shouldn't even when you know it's not good for you. we see that with matteo's fingers and leah staying when the power comes back on. but what does it all meannnnnn. i feel like i'm going crazy.
it just feels like there were so many threads that just get cut off with no satisfying ending. maybe this was a stylistic choice, but it's not my style.